Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

1981. When the River tour ends, Bruce Springsteen retreats to New Jersey. He does not record the next album in a studio with the E Street Band; he makes it alone in a bedroom on a four-track recorder. What comes out is Nebraska. Scott Cooper directed, from Warren Zanes's 2023 book about how the album was made. The film concentrates on Springsteen's personal and professional struggles in that period. Jeremy Allen White plays Springsteen and Jeremy Strong plays his manager Jon Landau, with Paul Walter Hauser, Stephen Graham and Odessa Young in support. White prepared at length: singing lessons, guitar lessons, harmonica lessons and work with a movement coach. The reviews came back mixed. White's and Strong's performances were praised, while critics faulted the repetitive plot points and the tropes of the musician biopic. The box office fell short: 45 million dollars against a 55 million budget. Who it is for: people who listen to Nebraska and viewers who like stories about making a record. Who it is not for: anyone tired of biopic structure. This one is shaped like hundreds of others in the genre.